Effective immediately, companies like Monsanto and DuPont/Pioneer will no longer be allowed to plant or sell their corn within the country’s borders.

According to Environmental Food and Justice, Judge Jaime Eduardo Verdugo J. of the Twelfth Federal District Court for Civil Matters of Mexico City wrote that the genetically engineered corn posed ”the risk of imminent harm to the environment.”

A man picks corn in Mexico. Photo courtesy Christian Science Monitor

He also ordered Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture and SEMARNAT (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales), the equivalent to the U.S. EPA, to immediately “suspend all activities involving the planting of transgenic corn in the country and end the granting of permission for experimental and pilot commercial plantings.”

The ruling means Monsanto and other biotech companies will be required to halt all activities in the country, giving collective action lawsuits initiated by citizens, farmers, scientists and other concerned parties a chance to work their way through the judicial system.

According to a local press release, Acción Colectiva [Collective Action] aims to achieve absolute federal declaration of the suspension of the introduction of transgenic maize in all its various forms, including experimental and pilot commercial plantings, in Mexico, “which is the birthplace of corn in the world.”

The ruling provides at least temporary protection for the 20,000 varieties of corn grown in Mexico and Central America.

In a similar move, the Big Island County Council in Hawaii is considering a ban on GMOs.

Comments

Janearther

Thank you Mexico. Sad that Monsanto’s garbage has also effected the biodiversity of your maize.

darma2u

Thank You

Amber

Woohoo!! Another drop in the bucket! Congrats Mexico!! Little by little, Monsanto is going down!

r2yagirl

Thank You Mexico!!

antisandman

It’s nice to know that Mexico’s judicial system still works for the people and the environment, sometimes.

Gustavocado

GRACIAS!!

kathy_sara

Great move, Mexico! I wish my (US) government would do the right thing too, but unfortunately the government is currently owned by the likes of Monsanto and DuPont. I can only hope citizens will become angry enough to wrestle it out of their hands before it’s too late.

greasy_r

FYI: The biotech companies you mentioned will still probably operate in Mexico. They own many of the most productive lines of corn (and soybeans) and do sell conventional seed. In Ukraine, for example.

CityKat

Your point is moot here since they’re banning ALL GMO crops immediately and so, they must leave. And quite frankly, calling their lines of corn and soy “many of the most productive” is clearly absurd, because there is enough proof that GMO crops are not producing higher yields and are causing environmental problems all over the globe. Sorry. Try again.

Greggo

You should do some more research – Monsanto and DuPont sell lots of non-GMO seed. They do very well in Europe despite the GMO ban there.

Free Spirit

Monsanto et al are buying up all the seed companies world wide so they can patent the seeds and farmers will have no choice but to buy Monsanto – eventually. We must keep fighting this monster

greasy_r

You didn’t read the comment very carefully (or perhaps I wasn’t clear). They own extremely productive seed lines and modify some into GMOs while selling lots of non-modified seed. Mexico isn’t banning the biotech companies, just some of their products.

madmaeve

Sadly, that is not at all true. Mexico has not banned ‘all’ or even most GMO crops – this ruling pertained to corn only; and the reporter whose article was cited for this piece (the original article that reported the ruling) updated his article’s headline just a few days after publication to be accurate: from ‘Mexico Bans Transgenic Corn’ to ‘Mexican judge suspends transgenic corn plantings’ – see the whole article here: http://ejfood.blogspot.com/2013/10/geo-watch-mexico-bans-transgenic-corn.html

John E. LaChingas

Take that! Fuck you Monsanto you can kiss my Brown Mexican ASS!!!!

Leslie Oscar

Now we have to work on doing something about Argentina which is overun by Monsanto

brandon

cant wait for america to open its eyes

hs4265

finally…the only problem is if Trans Pacific Partnership gets passed all of this won’t matter…although people can continue to ruse up and maybe TPP wont matter in the end…we can only pray and work harder

Ken Browning

Given that Meso America is the center of origin
of Teosinte and other species which gave rise to corn,
and these and a greater diversity of corn cultivars
are all growing in the area, it is critical to survival
of these to not allow contamination by GMO corn.

tamara rose

Very good!

Natali

I am happy but maybe I’d be happier if I didn’t know the level of corruption there is in Mexico. Let’s hope they apply this new law. Sad but true.

veggiegrrrl

Sadly, the USA will be the last nation to ban GMOs.

Neill D. Abayon

This is great!

kamalhassan

Bravo Mexico, for being brave to stand up the the corporate evils of this tranquil work, well done….Unfortunately US is still functioning under the big thumb and directions of the evil corporate powers of the world….

smytor

Looks like these smart asses with their gmo crap are in the process of getting thrown out of every country on the planet. How the mighty have fallen, and not a moment too soon. In fact, if our government wasn’t made up of careless, greedy idiots, it wouldn’t have happened at all. Unfortunately, we’ll be cleaning up their stinking mess for decades. Better hide your money, gene splicers, because we’re coming for it to help fix what you broke.

kristi

Good job Mexico!!!! Wake up America!!!!!

Aran

BUT IN MEXICO NOT EVEN THE MOST FAMOUS NEWSPAPERS HAVE PUBLISHED THIS NEWS.

Kurtis Kunesh

An increasing number of countries see through biotech misinformation. Most of the world’s nations & scientists do not validate industry/FDA claims of safety.

andthenIsaid

I would like to think Mexico has a hold on this, but Monsanto is a company with a lot of money and resources, and the Mexcian government may end up not enforce this law

David Bange

Saludos a Mexijo!!! It’s about time someone takes steps to Halt the EVIL actions of Mansanto, DuPont, etc and others playing games with our food.. SHAME on the USA, FDA, USDA, and EPA for falling behind, and it having to be a foreign state to be the first to take action.

Chris Wuod Nam

Great idea that should be emulated by all caring peoples and governments!

craig klucas

Buy Mexican! Go to a Mexican local market. Also cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Check the labels on their drinks. They are much tastier.

craig klucas

It sounds like Mexico is becoming more advanced than the US in many fronts.

emyrphe

Great, Mexico joins the rest of the world banning GMO corn along with Bulgaria joining the other 64 industrialized countries including China who ban it But not the good old U.S.A. and why? perhaps Monsanto’s campaign contributions to our elected officials who are supposed to protect us maybe?

Rabbit7807

It is really unfortunate that the various “Free Trade Agreements” and other conditions have impoverished so many small farmers in Mexico because industrial-grade American grown corn has flooded the markets at low prices … this is much worse than any GMO impact could have -